3:08
Weekly Update #220 4/7/2024 to 4/13/2024
Three minutes and eight seconds was all the longer it lasted, but man, was it a new experience for most of us. Before I dive down this dark path, let me share some of my week serving as mayor of the best small town in America.
Since 2020 we have been eligible for $5.5 million in Crossroads Community Matching Grant money from the state of Indiana. This week, we learned that we received the maximum award of $1.5 million for the 2024-1 cycle. That puts us at just shy of $11.7 million on road work via CCMG over the last five years. No, before you ask, O'Brien Street is not a part of this award, and that is because it is part of four different Federal Aid projects which take five years to complete. The total for Federal Aid and CCMG projects that we have worked on since January 1st of 2020 is around $48.1 million. Good work to the city team for all their hard work over the years on road projects. Thank you to the State for all they do working with us along the way.
The second annual Recovery Dinner was held recently. This event is a different take on a celebration of lives found again. From those recently working on their recovery to those who are celebrating decades in long term recovery, it is a wonderful event to help place hope into the hearts of people suffering from substance use disorder. Thank you to everyone involved in continuing this event. I would definitely call it a success.
Fourteen months was the amount of time since the first eclipse planning session. Early on, I encouraged January Rutherford to take the lead and make it happen. Over the planning time I would guess that 25 to 30 different people were involved making it a reality. From the event on Sunday that brought a parking lot full of food and craft vendors to two free concerts, there was something for everyone. With speakers from far and near, one of my favorites was Ohio State student, Bailey Wolfe, sharing her story. Bailey is originally from Seymour and is soon headed to Australia to continue her education in astronomy. After a long day on Sunday, the city team headed into Monday with a start of meeting WDRB for morning interviews long before the star of the day was even up above the horizon. After several morning show appearances, we launched into the day with parking cars at a couple official locations. At one point we were able to note 26 different states via licenses coming in. While the crowds were not as high as we were told to expect from those we spoke to about the 2017 eclipse, we still had good crowds. At around 3:07 p.m. on Monday April the 8th, many of us experienced our first totality from an eclipse. Prior to sitting with my family and watching for three minutes and eight seconds, I couldn’t understand why people would travel so far for an eclipse. Afterwards though, I can now understand as the experience of everyone taking a few minutes to stop and watch the sky was fun. I was glad that on a hectic day I was able to make it to view the eclipse with my family with just a few minutes to spare. I am not sure that when the next one comes to North America in 20 years that we will make the trip to the path of totality, but who knows because this one was definitely an experience we won’t forget anytime soon. Today, I will leave you with a sunshine related quote from Russell Simmons, "Decide that no matter what is happening around you, the sun will always be shining in your world."